Jennifer Hodge de Silva

The life and work of documentary filmmaker Jennifer Hodge de Silva (1951–1989) represents part of a milestone in Canadian film history and in African-Canadian filmmaking in particular. She was among the first Black pioneers (and African-Canadian women) to make substantial inroads in the Canadian film and television industry in the 1970s. Her work forms part of the beginning of a body of diverse films created by Filmmakers of Colour. Working mainly in the documentary genre in a style described as realist social-issue documentary, her work in the 1980s established the dominant mode in African-Canadian film culture. She demonstrated a set of concerns and a mode of production that could be called "Black liberalism." Hodge de Silva's films went beyond the coverage of topics related to the African-Canadian community; she maintained that her work was defined by a broader interest. Her films included areas such as the Second World War, prison reform and Native peoples. While her career ended prematurely due to her early death from cancer at the age of 38, many of the subjects and issues raised in her films, as well as her interpretation of them, remain relevant today.

Reference and Genealogy Division, Library and Archives Canada.
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